WORDSWORTH

des sirènes : the fabulons sea-nymphs who were said to lure seamen to their ruin by the fascination of their songs. S. girande, ' cluster of water-jets. '

10. orgue, like amour and délice, is masc. in the singular and

fem. in the plural ; e. g. un bel orgue, de belles orgues. 13. toute seule, ' by itself.'

17. vouloir bien, ' to be willing,' ' be kind enough,' ' consent,'

'admit,' etc. ; vouloir du bie?i à q?i., ' to wish some one well, ' ' bear some one good-will. '

27. on eût dit d'une scène . . : the use of de in such locutions may be explained in this way : o/i eût dit d'un roi, i. e. on aurait dit cela d'un roi, on aurait dit que sa conduite, son attitude, ses paroles étaie?it d'un roi, and elliptically on aurait dit d'un roi, ' one would hâve thought he was a king. '

30. je me rendis compte alors de . . , ' I then understood . . '

45. 4. ses blanches épaules : note the place of the adjective in

poetical style.

détachait : cf. se détacher, ' to stand out in relief ' 19. se fût détaché . . : the meaning of this verb is of course

quite différent hère. For the mood see note, p. 17 1. 25. 24. de voir . . : i.e. que Je voyais . .

46. 3. tenir de, ' to partake of,' ' be of the nature of ' ; also ' to

be like,' ' resemble,' e. g. il tient de sa mère, ' he takes after his mother. ' tenir à='to value,' ' be anxious to,' • dépend on,' etc.

7. dauphin : this name was assumed in the ninth century by the lords of Dauphiny, whose helmets were adorned with adolphin. It was given in 1349 to the heir-apparent to the French crown, Humbert II. having jàelded his principaHty to Philip of Valois on condition that the eldest son of the king of France should bear the title of Dauphin.

11. les nerfs: sound the / in the singular (except in nerf de

bœuf), but not in the plural.

18. sans désirer de . . : the use of de after désirer followed

by an infinitive is becoming rare.